2021.03.0723:45:00UTC+00Japan January Current Account Surplus Y646.8 Billion

Japan posted a current account surplus of 646.8 billion yen in January, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday - down 2.3 percent on year.

That missed forecasts for a surplus of 1,229.6 billion yen following the 1,165.6 billion yen surplus in December.

The trade balance showed a deficit of 130.1 billion yen, down 86.9 percent on year after showing a surplus of 127.48 billion yen in the previous month.

Exports were up 2.7 percent on year at 5,691.6 billion yen after adding 0.3 percent to 6,561.5 billion yen in December.

Imports dropped an annual 10.9 percent to 5,821.7 billion yen after sinking 13.5 percent to 5,596.4 billion yen in the previous month.

Goods and services showed a deficit of 611.1 billion yen, while primary income came in at a 1,466.6 billion yen surplus and secondary income showed a 208.8 billion yen deficit.

The capital account showed a deficit of 13.2 billion yen in January following the 12.2 billion yen shortfall a month earlier.

The financial account had a surplus of 920.1 billion yen, down from 1,782.8 billion yen in December.

Also on Monday, the Bank of Japan said that the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 6.2 percent on year in February, coming in at 578.104 trillion yen. That followed the downwardly revised 6.0 percent increase in January (originally 6.1 percent).

Excluding trusts, bank lending advanced an annual 5.9 percent to 502.250 trillion yen after gaining 5.7 percent in the previous month.

Lending from trusts jumped 8.5 percent on year to 75.853 trillion yen, while lending from foreign banks dropped an annual 4.7 percent to 3.267 trillion yen.